Archives for future of europe

Trump won. Surprising for some, shocking for others, even apocalyptic. Nevertheless, European leaders send congratulation letters. They quite interesting at what they say. And even more interesting at what they don’t say. French President Hollande congratulated Trump, because that is a decent thing to do and “natural between two democratic heads of state” and pointed… » read more

There are few good news coming from Brussels these days. The pundits are still wondering if Brexit will happen, hoping it would not and wondering at the same time how hard it will be. CETA negotiations are an embarrassment for the EU. They showed that not only one single country but one region in a… » read more

The key problem of Europe is ontological. We are not sure what the European Union actually is. Is it a free trade area, a giant NGO based in Brussels and doing good for Europe and the World, or perhaps a country in the making? The compromise answer, popular in Brussels, is that Europe is a… » read more

Lecture at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at John’s Hopkins University, Washington DC, May 28th, 2014. Full version with introduction in PDF. Some people compare Europe to a bicycle. In order to maintain its balance, a bicycle has to keep moving. And in order to be stable, Europe has to keep moving. At least this… » read more

Originally published in New Europe, 24.2.2014. Not far south of Brussels is the village of Waterloo. In the museum of the battle there is one painting that should touch the heart of even the most cynical Eurosceptic. It depicts the French cavalry attacking one of the diamond-shaped British infantry positions. The field in front of… » read more

Plenty has been written about Monti’s taking charge of Italy. But there is another dimension in his appointment. A wise man will be joining the The European Council. Mario Monti was a member of the Reflection Group on the Future of Europe, also known as the Wise Men’s Group of Felpie Gonzales. I have been… » read more

Awarding president Obama the Nobel Prize for peace show how desperate the West is for leadership out of the economic, social and environmental crisis; for leadership in the times when it is worried about its decline. It demonstrates the lack of ideas. Instead, the bubbly economy and the virtual media society could use a reminder that deeds, not words matter.

Since the young in the West take peace between Germany and France for granted, and the young in the East got used to democracy without a fear of communism, the European Union and its institutions seems to be running out heroic missions. To be relevant to the “citizen” the EU needs to provide useful services… » read more

This is fairly similar to the way I see the opportunities of Europe during the so-called Asian century:

The Comeback Continent – New York Times: “Today I’d like to talk about a much-derided contender making a surprising comeback, a comeback that calls into question much of the conventional wisdom of American politics. No, I’m not talking about a politician. I’m talking about an economy — specifically, the European economy, which many Americans assume is tired and spent but has lately been showing surprising vitality.”

However, one wonders if this is the way:

Amazon’s free shipping costing €1,000 per day in France: “Did you hear the one about Amazon? It offered free shipping in France, got sued for it by the French Booksellers’ Union, and lost. Now it’s choosing to pay €1,000 a day rather than follow the court’s order. Ba-da-bing!”

One of the themes somehow neglected in the Lisbon strategy to date has been creativity. Indeed there has been much discussion about knowledge, r&d and innovation, but creativity is more than this. At some point I’d like to write a longer post about this, however, for now just let me share some slides. The deck… » read more